Mitchell Santner echoes Pat Cummins’ famous line, aims to silence Indian crowd in T20 World Cup final: 'That’s the goal'

New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner has said that his team wants to silence the Indian crowd when they face India in the T20 World Cup 2026 final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.

Santner’s comment reminded many fans of a similar statement made by Pat Cummins before the 2023 Cricket World Cup final at the same venue. Australia had gone on to defeat India in that match. Cummins had said a day before the final that his goal is to silence 1,30,000 Indian fans, which he eventually achieved.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Santner admitted that his goal is to silence the huge crowd. He also said that the match could eventually come down to winning little moments, as seen in previous games in the T20 World Cup.

“That's the goal, to silence the crowd. There are a lot of variables in T20 cricket, and it can be fickle at times, as we've seen throughout the World Cup. A lot of teams are on the same page, and it comes down to a few little moments in every game that change the outcome. We can upset another big team, and I think there's obviously a lot of pressure on India to win this World Cup at home," Santner said.

More from Firstcricket

Mitchell Santner says they won't mind breaking a few hearts

Santner also said that his team is willing to be the bad guys and break a few hearts for once if that means winning the trophy.

“I wouldn't mind winning a trophy. You look at this group and the groups that have been in the past, we are pretty consistent on these because we try not to get overawed by the situation or opponents. We go out there and do our thing. And as a unit, it's been no different this time. And again, it's going to be obviously a challenge where everyone knows we're probably not the favourites. But we don't mind,” Santner said.

“We know we can, if we do our little things well and put in a strong team performance, put us in a pretty good position to hopefully lift the trophy. I wouldn't mind breaking a few hearts to lift the trophy for once,” he added.

India come into the final after defeating England in the semifinal, while New Zealand booked their place in the title clash with a dominant win over South Africa. This is their second ICC final in less than a year after playing the 2025 Champions Trophy.